


Bleach Stains

by EternalEclipse



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Implied Violence, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Yakuza, also borrowing the yakuza!mizuiro headcanon for this, but honestly who wouldn't swing that way at least a little, he's also apparently bisexual, no one we care about dies i promise, sort of aged-up ichigo, uraichi's pretty hot even when one of them's beat up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-10 15:36:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15294621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalEclipse/pseuds/EternalEclipse
Summary: Urahara Kisuke was many things--an exile, a former shinigami captain, an assassin, a scientist, a humble shopkeep, and even a parent, sort of. He also had to make rent at the end of the month, same as anyone. So what if he did a little side work for the local yakuza? It wasn't really a secret--it just wasn't dangerous, so no one really needed to know.





	Bleach Stains

**Author's Note:**

> Happy (only slightly early thanks to editing) Birthday Ichigo! Happy? I hope so. Enjoy!

Kisuke had always had a good sense of time. He could tell an hour’s passage by the sun in the sky, or even by his own heartbeats if need be. It had become so ingrained in him to make sure he kept track that he’d stayed up some long nights counting the beating of his heart until the sun rose again. In the Living World, he’d learned to rely on technology, but only so far and no further. No technology was as consistent as the sun. 

It was still good to have a watch when one woke up in a windowless room after being drugged unconscious. A bit of a difference, as it had been years since his last experience with these sorts of things, but not a bad one at all.

(And he’d been drugged! Urahara Kisuke! All of his experience and yet. He supposed the smell of fresh kills and gunpowder could cover a multitude of sins, but Yoruichi would surely not let him live this down.)

He spared a few moments to wondering what he had done to generate such interest. This was certainly not the work of the Gotei—he was still in his gigai, for one. And this was definitely not their style, since they’d either take him in to his face with overwhelming force, or else just send their best assassins to kill him in his sleep. Aizen would have just killed him—there was no one to make an example of him to, not anymore, and he liked to think he was a threat to Aizen’s plans. And a closed off room like this? Either someone thought he had information that would be useful to them and didn’t know better than to give him the opportunity, or he was being held against someone else.

He was guessing the latter, given the lack of bindings. Unless they had meant to transport him while he was unconscious, and he’d woken up before they could. He was fairly resistant to poisons, and the gigai only helped that. In any case, there was no way to know what lay beyond the door. While he doubted it could kill him—being in a gigai didn’t make his _soul_ vulnerable to the sort of death that comes to humans—being ‘killed’ would be an annoyance.

He’d not thought that the human world would present any threat to him. Silly, in retrospect. Perhaps they couldn’t hurt his soul properly, but as long as he maintained a ‘human’ presence in his gigai… The stakes were usually low, but with Aizen entering the endgame, he couldn’t afford any scrutiny coming on the shop.

It had only been three hours since he’d been taken, not quite long enough that anyone would come looking. Kisuke considered pressing the small button on the side of his watch, which would signal to Tessai that he’d had some kind of trouble, but decided to hold off. He was just a bit too curious for his own good sometimes.

* * *

 _There were only three bodies in the room this time. Fresh, by the smell. Though, judging by the blood spatter and general presence of holes in the wall, they’d been all killed in a gunfight, and someone knew what they were doing. And the floor was_ cream carpet. _That was annoying—he wouldn’t be able to go back early today. Leaving Jinta and Ururu in charge of the shop for too long was never a good idea, and he had things to prepare for the day, but he had to pay the human world’s rent somehow, and no matter how many shinigami Yamamoto sent at him, kan wasn’t going to cut it._

_Kisuke hummed to himself as he went through the motions of cleaning up the mess. It was good money, better information, relatively low risk, and nothing he hadn’t already been used to when he started. He’d long since gotten over any squeamishness over bodies, after all, and he found he wasn’t exactly jumping at the thought of torturing again just for a little money._

_The room smelled like bleach and new paint now, covering the distinct scents of violence that had been present before. He’d gotten most of the way done before he noticed a slight hesitation in his limbs when he tried to move them. He slowed himself intentionally but didn’t stop as he looked around the room. Three different air vents, and he was away from the (closed) window. In a room like this, there were any number of places something could be hidden._

_He’d slipped, he thought woozily. He couldn’t clear the room properly as he went in, as it’d be too suspicious, but he could have done more than he had. But he’d gotten comfortable. His eyes slipped shut, and he let himself topple away from the blood before he truly lost consciousness. His last thought was an apology—he was going to be late._

* * *

Kisuke had decided to pass the time meditating. Not talking to Benihime—she’d surely be at least as bad as Yoruichi with this, and more than ready to fight their way free of the stupid humans who did this—but still collecting his thoughts. He’d have a chance to escape when someone came for him, and he had to admit he was curious about what was going on in the first place. Better not to draw the attention that came with creating his own escape in no time at all.

His curiosity only increased when, after an hour or so, from the corner of the room, a red dot began flashing. Kisuke blinked innocently up at it. When nothing else happened, he went back to planning a new gigai with greater poison resistance. Even if this interlude was mostly an amusement to Kisuke, something to break up the monotony of keeping an eye on Aizen’s plans, he couldn’t afford to leave this kind of opening available now that he knew about it. 

The sound of booted footsteps in the hall interrupted his musings about a new subsystem to let a gigai use stored poisons. Kisuke kept his body relaxed even as the door was kicked open, revealing four humans. Members of another gang, he supposed. Yakuza maybe. He didn’t know them. 

They had a blindfold, which made him want to laugh. He still wasn’t sure what this was all about, but it was one of the more interesting things that had happened to him over the years.

* * *

For all that Ichigo knew most of the local yakuza, he didn’t give two whits about their inner drama. He’d once thought to do odd jobs for one of the families or another, but the last thing his sisters needed growing up was their brother gone as well. So he’d stayed well enough away and learned how to fight against the local small fry just in case.

His version of ‘just in case’ as a nine-year-old who couldn’t take walking to the karate dojo alone because it meant his mom was gone, and his version of ‘just in case’ as a middle school ‘delinquent’ with bright hair and a smart mouth was just a little different. So he’d roughed up a few thugs, even yakuza thugs, when they messed with the dead. So he’d become friends with a couple of yakuza in the process. So what, even, if he ate lunch with the heir to one of the families on the regular. 

Didn’t mean he had to pay attention to the internal politics. But, apparently, the newest oddity was so persistently strange that it even reached Ichigo’s ears. Apparently some thugs had picked up a member of a neighboring gang, and, when negotiations failed, decided to rough him up a bit.

Apparently the guy had taken it so well that there were mutters that he was some kind of boss. Ichigo thought that that sounded like bullshit—surely another group would have negotiated for their boss, especially when the price was low because they were incognito. But the rumor was moving fast—Ichigo usually didn’t hear anything new, and the man had only been detained half a day before, in the late hours of the night.

He truly hadn’t thought anything of it until Mizuiro took Chad’s normal seat next to him at lunch. “Know him?” he held out a phone.

Ichigo’s face moved of its own accord, expressing his slight surprise and amusement better than words could.

“Hmm, you do,” Mizuiro smiled slyly. “Mind telling me?”

* * *

_“Yen for your thoughts?” Ichigo’s eyes slid left to where the shopkeeper was approaching._

_“It’s nothing to worry about,” Ichigo responded, holding Zangetsu to his back for the bandages to sheathe it._

_“Ah, I don’t quite believe that, you’re destroying my basement after all,” Kisuke stopped only a couple of steps away from him._

_Ichigo crossed that last gulf and rested his chin against Kisuke’s shoulder. This close, he could a touch of Kisuke’s soap. “Just been a long day,” he muttered into Kisuke’s hair. Kisuke’s free arm came up to pat his back. “And a long year.”_

_“That was rather the point of the time dilation,” Kisuke pointed out gently._

_“I know,” Ichigo muttered. “Nothing’s changed here, even if that bastard is still around, but…” He clenched his hands into fists. “It’s still July. And it’s like it’ll always be July. It’s been years, and it’s still the same July and I’m supposed to be worried about a history test on Thursday, not the newest Espada. And I can’t even practice anymore.”_

_Several long moments passed. “Go with me to the shrine tomorrow? And the river? It’s time I introduce you to her.”_

_“Skipping school now?” Kisuke teased, instead of mentioning that he’d once met the formidable Kurosaki Masaki. Feeling Ichigo tense, Kisuke rubbed at his shoulder. “Of course. But you should get some sleep first.”_

_“Like you never skipped,” Ichigo scoffed, pushing away. “But fine. After.”_

_“I see you’ve not forgotten how to play a moody teenager~” Kisuke dodged the handful of rocks Ichigo tossed at him, before shunpoing out of range, towards the ladder to the shop. Ichigo scowled, and shunpoed after him._

* * *

“Not much to tell,” Ichigo snorted. Not much that Mizuiro needed to know—he certainly wasn’t going to spill the beans about Soul Society over this. “He’s a shady guy, owns a candy store across town. I wouldn’t have picked him for being yakuza anything, and he’s probably not anything big.

“No, he didn’t seem like one, but you never know,” Mizuiro shrugged.

“Yeah, well,” Ichigo grimaced. “Might as well let him go. If he knows anything, I’d have better luck than any of your interrogators.

“Oh?” Mizuiro purred into his ear. “I didn’t know you were into older guys, Ichigo.”

Ichigo blushed slightly as he pushed Mizuiro away. “Yeah, well. I’ve got things to do. Let me know when you’re done with him?”

“Stay,” Mizuiro offered, though it was more of a command than anything. “If you say he’s got nothing, then you might as well stick around to pick him up—or was it the other way around?”

Ichigo rolled his eyes. “Stick to the women, Mizuiro.”

Mizuiro laughed as he sent out a text. As if sensing the natural end of the conversation, their friends filled in around them, chattering about various things. Ichigo opened his lunch and ate shoved some rice into his mouth, lost in his thoughts. Thankfully, no one disturbed him, except when Chad tapped him on the shoulder to let him know they were going back inside.

* * *

They blindfolded him again, which made Kisuke want to laugh, even if that would tweak the bruises on his torso. They didn’t lead him very far before one of their phones buzzed.

“Sir?” A young man’s voice sounded. “Yes, sir, right away.” 

“What was it?” asked one of the kids to Kisuke’s left. 

“We’re letting this one go,” the first replied. 

 _Letting him go?_ The kid shared the same sentiment. “Without questioning him again?”

“Orders from up top. Apparently this one’s got friends in high places. Come on, now. We’re on a timeline.”

They all started walking again, and Kisuke found himself guided up a staircase and outdoors. Two of them stayed with him, though the others disappeared. The noise of a car starting plunged through the remains of the last drug they’d pumped into his system before moving him. The two pushed him into the car, which took off just as soon as the doors shut.

Letting him go. Friends in high places. It wasn’t just him keeping secrets, it seemed.

* * *

Ochi-sensei was so used to her students just walking out of class in the middle of lessons that she didn’t even bat an eye when Ichigo and Mizuiro walked out between subjects without giving her so much as the usual bad excuse. Both of them made good grades and she had long since become inured to the strange occurrence.

She certainly wouldn’t have guessed that the pair of them were heading to a shop a few blocks away from the school, where a pair of yakuza were dropping off their former prisoner. Ichigo gave Kisuke a thorough look over as he stepped out of the car, still wearing a blindfold. Not as many marks as he could have had, though he hadn’t been held for long. Mizuiro caught him looking and smirked, though neither of them said anything with the underlings still present.

“You can go now,” Mizuiro gestured at the pair, who left obediently. As soon as they turned the corner, Ichigo stepped up to Kisuke to remove the blindfold.

Kisuke shook his hair back in front of his face as his eyes focused on the face before him. “Ichigo?”

Ichigo kissed him on the lips for several seconds before twisting to scowl back at Mizuiro. “Happy?” 

“Ecstatic, though you’re right, I’d better stick to the older women,” Mizuiro replied flippantly. “I’ll cover for you at school, though you’ll call later.” 

“Yeah, yeah, bye Mizuiro,” Ichigo called back, before pushing his hand into Kisuke’s. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Before long, Ichigo and Kisuke were settled in one of the back rooms of the Shoten. He’d not been gone quite long enough for Tessai to be concerned, but the children still needed to be taken care of. And the shop. And the various missives from the Gotei that had come in, because after the Vizard had convinced them that Kisuke had only tried to help them, he'd suddenly become the best alternative to Mayuri. Though Ichigo had stolen those from him before he'd gotten too absorbed, and Kisuke had let them. The Gotei could wait til morning. And, given the look Ichigo was giving him, so could their plans.

Ichigo poured the tea for the pair of them because residual effects of whatever Kisuke had been drugged with was making his hands shake. They both took long sips as they both waited to see if the other would start.

“Yakuza?” Kisuke asked lightly.

“I should be asking you that,” Ichigo snorted, taking another sip of his tea. “Since I was the one to speak up for you.”

“No one visits the candy shop,” Kisuke shrugged. “And I’m not, not really. It’s rather boring for me, even if it’s good money. But then I wouldn’t have guessed that you were involved in that sort of thing.”

Ichigo hummed. “Not really. I just don’t like people who mess up memorials.”

Kisuke carefully skirted that minefield by taking another sip of tea and then settling his bucket hat back on his head. He suddenly felt a lot less like the nameless, nearly-faceless Third Seat of the Onmitsukido, and more like Urahara Kisuke. He shifted to sit differently, leaning more into Ichigo.

“So, are you selling drugs from the shop or something?” Ichigo asked, shifting so that Kisuke’s head was placed more comfortably against him. “If I wanted some choloform, where would I find it?” A half beat of silence. “Hypothetically of course.”

Kisuke thought. “Not in the shop, but if you’re good then there’s some in the lab I could spare...”

Ichigo turned to chuckle into Kisuke’s shoulder. “That wasn’t actually much of a question. ”

“You know better,” Kisuke teased, leaning over to kiss Ichigo.

“Ugh, you need a shower,” Ichigo changed the subject. 

“Going to join me?”

Ichigo flicked at his shoulder, smiling slightly. “Might as well save the water,” he replied, knowing full well by the look on Kisuke’s face that that was neither of their concern.

* * *

 _Definitely not a boss,_ Ichigo’s text to Mizuiro read. _But let me know if you need any info. He's good at that._

Mizuiro was almost disappointed that he hadn’t sent a picture as well. Men might not be his thing usually, but those two together would have been one heck of an exception to make. He wondered if either of them might have an exhibitionism streak…


End file.
